The £9.64m tally beat the previous best of £9.48m set by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. Global sales reached $72.7 million through Thursday in 44 markets.
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Early Friday estimates also showed that the film is on target for a weekend of more than $200 million.
Chris Geer poses for a photo in front of the Star Wars movie poster with his son Ethan during opening night of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” at Century Theatre in Boulder, Colo., Thursday, Dec. 17, 2015.
And Jurassic World now holds the opening weekend record of $208.8 million but it looks like the new Star Wars film will hold the new record in just a few days time. The gender split was 70% male, 30% female; 51% of the audience was over 25.
“The potential for The Force Awakens to ultimately break into the $2bn club worldwide is certainly in the realm of possibility”, he said. Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Rentrak, told Variety that the initial numbers underline a deep attraction among moviegoers for the iconic franchise.
The J.J. Abrams-directed film, The Force Awakens, brings back Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill along with a new cast consisting of Daisy Ridley, John Boyega and Oscar Isaac.
The same tactic, coupled with the decision to open the film on a Monday, enabled Spectre to set the record for the biggest opening ever at the United Kingdom and Ireland box office.
Disney has clearly tapped into an enormous pent-up demand for the return of Luke Skywalker, Chewbacca and Han Solo, plus the new characters and story line. The movie is opening three years after Disney paid $4.06 billion for Lucasfilm. Box Office Mojo predicted yesterday that the film could rake in $231 million in its opening weekend, but analysts there now say that number “may be in jeopardy of being too low”. Hollis has repeatedly reminded that “there are literally millions of tickets available”.
Fans flocked to theaters Thursday evening, many dressed as evil Stormtroopers or lightsaber-wielding Jedi as the movie took in $57 million at domestic theaters.
57% of Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ haul last night came from 3D screenings, while IMAX screenings broke their own record by earning $5.7 million across 391 screenings, the previous record holder being $3 million.
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“Sisters” will take in about $15 million to $17 million at 2,961 North American theaters this weekend as Universal offers counter-programming for comedy fans.
